Weird or Wail of the Banshee?

Sayne · Post by **Sayne** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 4:19 pm

Hey everyone,
My Char is a Drow Sorcerer, and I was wondering what the community recommends would be a better lvl 9 spell, Weird or Wail of the Banshee? They both require some kind of fortitude save, but for Wail the fortitude negates all effects. For Weird, if they fail a will save, they still can make a fortitude save for much less damage. What would everyone recommend is more effective, seeing as I've only just delved deep into the game.
Thanks
Sayne

Magrus · Post by **Magrus** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 4:43 pm

Given that the Weird spell requires 2 saves to complete the death affect and Wail of the Banshee requires only 1...you are more likely to kill with Wail of the Banshee out of the two. A note however, you aren't going to be likely to kill many fighter types of enemies with that spell unless you end up with Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus in Necromancy and have a really high Charisma.

Sayne · Post by **Sayne** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 5:17 pm

I wish it would give me some idea of the mathematics of the checks in the spell description, that would make the decision easier.

Magrus · Post by **Magrus** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 5:26 pm

Hmm, what do you mean? How they calculate the number the enemies have to save against? That's about the only thing that I can give you. The other end of it varies greatly on who you are using it on.

The DC (number the opponents need to save against) is worked out by this formula:

10 + Spell Level (9 in this case) + Relevant casting abilities modifier (Charisma in this case. Take your Charisma score, subtract 10 and divide by 2 and that is your modifier. It is also put as the "+#" or "-#" next to the Charisma score on your character sheet in game)

Chances are, if you are a Drow Sorcerer who is high enough level to cast Weird, you will have at least a 20 Charisma, hopefully somewhat closer to 22-24. Lets say 20 just to be safe. The DC for the spells you cast will be 10+9+5=24.

The way they save against this is rolling 1 20 sided die and adding their Fortitude save bonus (or Will or Reflex respectively for other spells). If the combined roll and bonus meets or exceeds the DC, they save and the effects are negated (or reduced if thats what the spell says).

Fighter types always have higher Fort saves than Will saves. Casters have higher Will saves, Clerics have both high. Rogues and the like have high Reflex saves. As a Sorc, you want a mix of spells that affects all three types of saves so that you can pick off enemy casters or rogues or fighters when you come against them. Blasting a group of rogues with fireballs won't work well, but Wail of the Banshee would do wonders.

Sayne · Post by **Sayne** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 6:14 pm

That's exactly what I meant ^_^ Thanks for the explanation. My base charisma is 23 or something, which I have buffed up with various items. Good stuff.

I'm not so used to D&D 3rd edition rules. I play much more BGII than any other game, so I'm very used to AD&D which has a different saving throw system.
Thanks for the explanation.

Snipercon · Post by **Snipercon** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:46 am

For saving throws, what is the spell level used for spells using metamagic feats? The base level or modified level?

Magrus · Post by **Magrus** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 12:59 pm

@ Snipercon, I am fairly certain it uses the spell slot level which is used when the spell is cast. I am not sure on that, but it should be the total overall level. So, if you use an empowered Fireball, it should count as a 5th level and not 3rd level spell.